Collins Is Adapting

Call me simple-minded, but I'm most happy about the limited minutes Kapono and Hawes have played. I have some faith that the mullet will be squeezed out soon enough as well.

A lot of guys are playing at a really high level too. I'm skeptical this team can keep up the great play. They probably should have 4 wins by now, but haven't had a ton of luck.

I'm enjoying it much more than last year thus far.

I was giving Collins a C or something as the season approached because of the Kapono starting thing and Nocioni thing. I'd probably give him a B now with the idea a B+ is on the horizon if Nocioni sees his playing time cut once he starts to be really terrible.

I think he's done a good job to this point. There are some things that seemed like obviously bad ideas beforehand, but for some reason, he needed to see them fail on the floor to make the adjustment. The important thing is that he made the adjustment.

I'd love to be a fly on the wall for a candid conversation between Collins and Thorn. See what the coach is asking for, how the President is trying to address it.

I think he is ready to adjust with L.Will. . He leaned on him getting easy baskets but now is realizing how the offense comes to a stop and how he still gives up things defensively. Brian, how would you feel if Thorn brought in Dampier? I know it is a move we should dislike, but Jrue and Turner seem to be progressing enough to have a move like that maybe make for fun basketball.

He did better than expected for the first couple games, since then it's a mirage. Like last night, you watch the game and you see those runouts he got (which really isn't good defense), and he had a couple of dunks and you're like, "Hey, this Nocioni guy isn't bad!" Then you look at the box score and see he used 12 shots to get his 12 points and only had 2 boards in 31 minutes, and yep...he sucks.

One more thing about projections. Possibly the biggest factor has been Brand. Not only his production, but the fact that he's playing 36+ minutes at a high level. If he was only at 25-30 minutes, someone would be getting the leftovers and producing at a bad level. Being able to have him on the floor this much is a huge advantage.

Not as bad as you think, especially since Collins realized Meeks is a better alternative than Kapono if he needs shooting. Now if we can just get him to play Speights instead of Hawes and Battie. Still think Sixers make the top 8 in the East.

That's a quote from Hollinger's (AKA, a guy who hasn't watched a second of the Sixers yet this season) chat on ESPN.

The guy has a bigger man crush on Speights than I do on Stephen Curry.

by the way, I don't disagree about more Speights than Hawes, but Battie has played well and earned his minutes. If you're talking about the most wins possible, Battie needs to be on the floor whenever he can be (which is very, very sad).

Did you guys see that Lou Williams separated the AC joint in his left shoulder in last nights game?

He's listed as day-to-day.

Meeks probably gets more of an opportunity now right? Even if Iguodala can play again.

I'm interested to see what the team looks like without LouWill. First of all, because he is possibly a trade asset. Second of all, because he has shown the ability to both save our squad (offensively) and kill our squad (offensively and defensely). Maybe sticking to our offensive system more throughout the game, and not having Lou there holding the ball too long at times, will help other players on the team.

A separated shoulder seems like it would be worse than day-to-day, but I've never had one so who knows.

My guess is that without Lou, the second unit will probably have offensive lulls. Collins is going to need to have one of Jrue or Turner on the floor at all times, and that may limit the amount of time they play together. I'm thinking there's a chance this may keep Turner out of the starting lineup when Iguodala returns, if there was ever a plan to keep him in it.

I've enjoyed the work Collins has done so far. He does make me wonder sometimes, but his roster is so freakin limited.

The team has played a lot of competitive basketball, and we are seeing excellent play from Jrue and Brand (who is almost as important as anyone because we're either stuck with him or could trade him). Turner's also playing good ball even though we know that he needs time to get where he will be. He's showing us the flashes and positive play we want to see.

I actually give Collins credit in saying that EB needed to be rejuvenated over the summer. He beat that subject into the ground and I kind of glossed (because Brand seemed like a pretty lost cases) over it thinking it was just coach speak. It really looks like he did it though. EB has been awesome.

His handling of Lou has been the one question, maybe now that Meeks played well he has an alternative to go to when Bad Lou rears his head?

It would be great if Collins used Meeks as a safety valve for Lou. It could actually be great for Lou as well. Get him to temper his own play when he starts going bad, otherwise he knows he's going to get the hook.

The answer is easily no, but Durant is more than just a shooter. His game has really grown. I'm a little worried about the rest of that team, and maybe the coach. It looks like Wesbrook and Durant against the world right now, and that's not sustainable. Especially since they have absolutely no shooting on the roster outside of Durant.

It's Lou. I feel bad for the guy in a lot of ways because I think he would be dynamite on a good team with solid defenders behind him. He's such a good scorer and he really could do with any team because he does it all by himself. I get frustrated because he's ultra-talented but not the type of player that will turn this team around. That's not his fault though.

Remember how Nate Robinson turned himself into a good player in the playoffs for Boston? Lou could be that times 10. With the way he's playing this year (awful), I'm making a play for Lou if I'm Boston.

Robinson, and House in a smaller sense, are both good examples. I always had a feeling Lou could step up in big moments if given the chance. But I remember the words when Korver was dealt; "he is a luxury we don't need now."

Where has he been when the team falls into that 7-10 minute scoring slump? Where are these drives to the basket we were expecting? The 2-3 more free throw attempts? The sense or urgency to get two points to stop the other teams run? 13 ppg from your best player? You can't be serious?

Brand had been that guy. Collins has tried to play Lou as that kind of guy in spurts. Turner and Jrue aren't ready to be that guy. Iguodala is supposed to be that guy for THIS team.

I think he's supposed to be Andre Iguodala. When Iverson left his scoring went way up and everybody thought it would go up even more in the future. But it turned out that that was about the extent of Iguodala's abilities. He defends and passes and rebounds and scores about what a really athletic player who doesn't shoot or handle the ball very well should.

I'm definetly not anti-Iguodala but I hate his attitude toward wanting to be more aggressive on offense at times. He has the most talent on the team but maybe the least heart. I'm just starting to realize he will never be what I think he can.

Heart my be the wrong word. How about he doesn't have the DESIRE to be a better player than he is. His talent alone has gotten him to this level of success but he seems to have hit a ceiling. Overdone scored half his carreer point on desire alone. Does it seem like he's trying to be this teams best player to you? Who wants to be a carrier #2 at 26 years old?

The whole "Iguodala is efficient" argument is old news too. If he could play as hard as Iverson did he would be a top 5 player. Funny thing is I hated Iverson but have stood behind Iguodala for the last 6 years. Iggy just doesn't have that type of motor. If I state the obvious am I a hater? If so then my avatar is for you!!

No he couldn't, he doesn't have that kind of talent. You just see the first step and vertical leap and big frame, what else does he have offensively to make him a top 5 player? He's about what he ought to be.

If you read any basketball magazines Iguodala is always ranked top 5 in 2 guards and top 5 in at the 3. Those 3 skills you listed are enough that not many two guards in the league can guard him if he used them. Does he cosistantly use his size in the post? No. He settles for jumpshots. Does he use any type of mid-range game? No. Does he consistanly get to the rim? No. He settles got jumpshots. Not saying he takes bad shots or doesn't shoot enough but using those advantages would make the game so much easier that he couldn't help but shoot more. He put up very respectable numbers without much effort so emagine if he went hard for 25 mins a game a la D. Wade? Anouther player who's not the best shooter, best ball handler or best at the line but he makes up for his short comings with all out hustle.

Well he is a top 5 wing player. I thought you were saying he could be top 5 in the league. He's gotten off to a slow start, but when he's doing his 18/6/5 with stellar defense thing, he's only second to LeBron, Kobe, Wade, Carmelo, Durant, and then he's up there with the Roys and Joe Johnsons of the world. Or don't you think so? I certainly don't think we'd be better off with Joe Johnson.

Iguodala gives you 18,6,5 playing passive on offense. What if he took advantage of the mismatch like he didn't do in the games vs Washington and Indiana? What if he posted smaller guards? If he drew 2-3 more fouls a game? He could easily be a 20+ scorer then he would ne mentioned as top ten in the league but he refuses to do so.